Trough hatch operating arrangement

ABSTRACT

A hopper type railway car is provided with a longitudinally extending hatch opening having a plurality of longitudinally spaced covers movable from open to closed positions. The covers are adapted to overlie rectangular coamings defining each of the openings, with said covers being hingedly connected to the roof of the railroad car and including operating means for moving the covers laterally, initially from a closed position, thereby disengaging locking means whereby the covers may then be hingedly moved to open position. The operating means is actuated by holddown members which provide leverage for initiating a caming mechanism effective to provide for said lateral movement and also seal and lock the covers in a closed position.

United States Patent Nagy et al. Mar. 19, 1974 [5 1 TROUGH HATCHOPERATING 3.664.270 5/1972 Stark 105 377 ARRANGEMENT PrimaryExaminer-Robert J. Spar [75] Inventors. wr izx zl AssistantExaminer-Richard A. Bertsch Michigan City, an of Ind. Attorney, Agent,or .Fzrm -Hflmondl O. Vogel [73] Assignee: Pullman Incorporated,Chicago, Ill. [57] ABSTRACT [22] filed: 1972 A hopper type railway carisprovided with a longitudi- [21] AWL 313 905 nally extending hatchopening having a plurality of longitudinally spaced covers movable fromopen to closed positions. The covers are adapted to overlie [52] US. Cl.105/377 rectangular coamings defining each of the openings, [5 i] hit.Cl 861d 39/00 with Said covers being hingedly Connected to the f [58]Fled of Search 105/377; 292/2565 241; of the railroad car and includingoperating means for V 220/44 24; 296/100; 52/45 moving the coverslaterally, initially from a closed position, thereby disengaging lockingmeans whereby the [56] Referencesclted covers may then be hingedly movedto open position.

UNITED STATES PATENTS The operating means is actuated by holddown mem- 2372 369 3/1945 Ditchfield 1. 105/377 bers which provide leverage forinitiating a caming 2.547.859 4/1951 Duffie et al.... 105/377 mechanismeffective to provide for said lateral move- 3 523.774 8/1970 Beelhold105/377 ment and also seal and lock the covers in a closed po- 3.523.5068/1970 Williams et a1... 105/377 i i 3.599.576 8/l97l Vickerman 105/3773.6051639 9/1971 8 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures Ingram 1.; lO5/3'77PATENTED MAR 19 974 SHEET 1 UP 4 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field ofthe Invention The present invention'relates to hopper type cars havinglongitudinally extending hatch openings with covers therefor and morespecifically relates to operating mechanism for locking and unlockingthe hatch covers from the openings.

2. Description of the Prior Art Actuating devices for longitudinal hatchopenings and covers are disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 3,175,518, Mar. 30,1965; 3,176,630, Apr. 6, 1965; 3,259,078, July 5, 1966 and 3,522,774,Aug. 4, 1970. The aforementioned patents disclose longitudinal hatchopenings in the roof of hoppercars which are closed by means of aplurality of hatch covers individually moved between open and closed.positions, the covers being hingedly mounted on the roof of the car andincluding suitable holddown and locking arrangements which tightly sealthe coversin position. Laterally movable covers are disclosed in US.Pat. Nos. 2,372,369, Mar.

27, 1945 and 2,547,859, Apr. 3, 1951.

SUMMARY OF. THE INVENTION The present invention resides in an improvedlocking arrangement for locking longitudinal hatch covers over alongitudinal opening provided in the roof of a hopper car. The hatchopening is provided with a coaming which has upwardly projecting arcuateflanges overhanging the roof of the railway car. The hatch covers inturn also include rectangular vertical walls which in the closedposition of the cover overlap the coaming. At least one of the verticalwalls of each hatch cover is provided with inwardly extendingprojections along one side thereof which in the closed position projectinwardly and underneath the flanged coaming to prevent hinged movementof the covers to an open position and to provide an effective weathersea] by virtue of its interengagement or underlying relation of theprojection with respect to the coaming flange. A cammingmechanism isprovided which is actuated by the holddown lever to initially move thehatch cover laterally from the closed position to permit disengagementof the inward projection of the cover and of the coaming flange, therebypermitting the cover to be raised to its open position. Each hatch coveris provided with holddown arms adjacent opposite ends thereof and withcamming arrangements so that one end of each cover may be initiallymoved laterally and the other end may then be sequentially moved in thesame manner to provide for disengagement or locking action of the hatchcovers relative to the hatch opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of theupper end of a hopper car showing-a hatch and hatch cover arrangement;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing longitudinally adjacent hatchcovers with operating mechanism therefor;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3of FIG. 2 showing a holddown arm in closed position;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 44of FIG. 9;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 isa view similar to FIG. 6 showing another position of a hatchcover in relation to the hatch opening;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 8-8of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 99of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 showing a hatch cover in a partiallyopen position with a holddown in disengagement;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line ll-1ll ofFIG. 9; and

FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along the linel2-12 of FIG. 11.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FREFERRED EMBODIMENT 1 Referring to drawings, arailway car 10 is provided with sides 11 and ends 12 supporting a roofstructure 13. The roof structure 13 may comprise a plurality ofinterconnected roof sheets 14. The roof structure 13 is provided withlongitudinally extending and horizontally spaced side coamings 15 whichat opposite ends of the car are interconnected by vertical end coamings15', as shown in FIG. 5. The coamings l5 and 15 provide an elongatedhatch opening 16 extending longitudinally and centrally substantiallythe length of the roof 13. The hatch opening 16 may be closed by aplurality of hatch covers generally designated at 17. The hatch covers17 each include vertical side walls 18 and end walls 19 suitablyinterconnected with a top sheet 20. As best shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 9 and10, one of the vertical side walls 18 is provided with an inwardlyprojecting portion or configuration designated at 21. The projectingportion 21 in the closed and locked position of the hatch cover, asshown in FIG. 9, underlies and extends inwardly with respect to alongitudinal arcuate flange portion which extends longitudinallycoextensive with the coaming 15 and projects outwardly with respectthereto. Each of the covers 17 is suitably supported for hingingmovement relative to the hatch opening l6 by means of hinge brackets 24which are secured to the top sheet 20 and which each include a journalloop 25 or cam follower. I-Iinge brackets 26 disposed on opposite sidesof the journal loop 25 are secured to the coaming 15 and supported bythe roof 13. A cylindrical cam 27 is rotatably supported within eachjournal loop 25. Each cam 27 is provided with a longitudinally extendingbore 28 which is eccentric or offset laterally with respect to the axisof the cam 27. A pair of shafts or rods 29 project through the bores 28and are keyed to the cams 27, as indicated at 30. This is particularlyshown in FIG. 8. The brackets 26 are provided with aligned openings 31through which the shafts 29 project, the same being secured within apair of rotatable pipes 32 which extend in longitudinally spacedrelation along one side of the hatch cover.

I-Iolddown arms 33 of channel shaped construction are positioned overadjacent ends of covers, as best shown in FIG. 2. In other words,holddown arms 33, as best shown in FIG. 3, are disposed at adjacent endsor vertical walls 19 of adjacent covers 17. As shown in FIG. 5, atopposite ends of the longitudinal openings 16, laterally extendingcombing 15 interconnects the ends of the longitudinally extending sidecoamings 15. The holddown arms at the ends of the opening will bedescribed later, it being understood that adjacent ends of the hatchcovers 17 are associated with the type of holddown arms 33, as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. The holddown arms 33 include horizontal strap portions 34having, as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, flanges 35 which are adapted toengage the top surfaces 20 of the hatch cover 17 in clamping relation.An inverted T- shaped member 36 on each arm 33 also is adapted to engagethe upper ends of adjacent end walls 19 of the cover 17 to secure thesame downwardly over the hatch opening 16. The ends of the strapportions 34 are provided with a downwardly extending vertical wallportion 37, having connected thereto a flange member 38.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, brackets 39 and 40 are provided onlongitudinally spaced sides of the holddown arms 33, a lock lever 41being pivotally supported on the brackets 39, and in the locked positionbeing held therein by means of removable pins 43 which extend throughholes 42 in the lock brackets 40. Each of the holddowns 33 is hingedlysupported by means of hinge brackets 44 suitably connected to the V roof13. As best shown in FIG. 11, the brackets 44 are disposed on oppositesides of the holddown arm 33 and portions of the pipes 32 extend throughopenings 45 adjacent to vertical plates 47, secured to the end of thestrap portion 34. The pipes 32 have connected thereto fingers 46 which,as best shown in FIGS. 9 and 11, project downwardly and which haveconnected thereto a short section of rod or cylindrical bar 48. As bestshown in FIG. 12, the bar 48 is offset laterally relative to the axis ofthe pipes 32. A sleeve 49 is rigidly secured at its ends to the verticalplates 47 and is rotatable relative to the rod bar 48. The sleeve 49also includes a slot 50 extending substantially the length thereof. Akey 51 is rigidly connected to the rod bar 48.

At opposite ends of the hatch opening there is provided a specialholddown 53 of the type disclosed in FIG. 5. The end holddown 53includes a flange 54 connected to a channel shaped part 55 having alower flange 56. Each of the end holddowns 53 is provided with a lockflange 57 similar to the flange 58 of the holddown arms 33. As bestshown in FIG. 4', the top sheet 20 of each of the covers is providedwith laterally extending vertical wall portions 52 which cooperate withthe flanges 35 and S4 to seal the hatch covers in the closed positionagainst the entrance of water, etc. The holddowns 34 and 53 eachfunction identically insofar as their relation to shafts 32 isconcerned. The end holddowns 53, of course, have only one shaft 32extending therefrom.

OPERATION In FIG. 1 the elongated trough of hatch opening 16 is coveredby three of the hatch covers 17. The portion of the opening 16 on theleft has the hatch covers 17 moved to an open position. The closedposition is also shown in FIGS. 2, 6 and 9. Assuming that the hatchcovers are in the closed position, as shown in FIG. 9, and the operatornow wishes to open them, the following takes place. The operatordisengages the lock arm 41 of one of the end holddown arms 53. Hethereupon moves the one end holddown arm in a clockwise position, asindicated in FIG. 10. Movement of the arm 53 to the position shown inFIG. 9 provides for rotation of the sleeve 49 of the mechanism at oneend hatch cover.

The lost motion connection provided by the slot 50 permits the arm tomove freely to the vertical position. He now moves the arm further in aclockwise manner and since the end of the slotted portion 50 is inengagement with the key 51, the rod 48 is rotated, thus, rotating theshafts 32. The arm' is now rotated another 90 to a positionsubstantially horizontal with the roof and as the holddown arm is thusrotated, this provides for rotation of the shafts 29 which project intothe cylindrical cam 27 at the end of the cover. The cylindrical cam 27is now moved also counterclockwise and because of its offset relationrelative to the loop or follower 25, the cover end is moved to theposition shown in FIGS. 7 and from the position shown in FIGS. 6 and 9.In FIGS. 6 and 9 the inwardly projecting portion 21 of the wall 18 isdisposed underneath and in overlapping ralation relative to thelongitudinal projecting arcuate flange 22 of the coaming 15. In the openposition the inwardly projecting portion 21 is moved outwardly so thatthe cover may now be hingedly moved to a completely open position asshown in the left hand cover of same end hatch cover which has beenlaterally moved only at one end or now actuates the holddown arm 33 inthe same manner which now causes the other end of the hatch to be movedlaterally to the position desired. In other words, one end of each coveris moved laterally outwardly or inwardly as desired between open andlocked positions and then the other end of the hatch cover is moved in asimilar manner, whereupon the operator may simply raise the hatch coverto its open position. Thus, the lateral movement of each end of eachcover is sequential. He then goes to the next cover and then to thecover at the end, operating them in the same manner until they are allin open position. For closing the hatch covers, the rotation of theholddown arms 33 is merely in a counterclockwise manner and the reverseoperation occurs for moving the hatch covers 17 back to the closedposition shown in FIG. 9. The covers are sufficiently flexible overtheir lengths and with respect to their connections and dimensiontolerances, permitting one end to be laterally moved before the other.

Thus, it is apparent that the holddown arms serve the purpose of holdingthe covers in their locked positions and at the same time are used asactuating arms for moving the covers laterally from an effectivelyclosed to an open position. This provides for double security insofar aseffective closure of the hatch covers is concerned and protects thecargo from the elements since an effective sealing action is provided inview of the interengaging actions of the projecting portions of thecover and coaming. Also, as best shown in FIG. 13, all the covers in theopen position may be moved flat on the running boards 58 supported onthe roof around the hatch openings.

What is claimed is:

l. A railway car including a roof having an elongated hatch openingextending longitudinally,

first vertical coaming walls extending about said opening,

a least one of said walls having an outwardly projecting ledgeoverhanging said opening,

FIG. 1. The operator now goes to the other end of the a pair of hatchcovers having ends positioned relatively longitudinally in adjacentrelation for covering said opening,

said covers including second vertical walls in the closed coveringposition being positioned outwardly and extending downwardly inoverlapping relation relative to said first walls, certain of saidsecond vertical walls having inwardly projecting portions adapted tounderlie said ledge, the improvement of a hinge and locking arrangementfor each cover, each comprising:

a pair of first hinge brackets connected to each cover inwardly from theends of said cover,

a second pair of hinge brackets supported on said roof,

first and second shafts rotatably supported on said second brackets,

an enlarged cylindrical cam member rotatably supported on each saidfirst hinge bracket,

said shafts being eccentrically connected respectively to said cammembers, I

a first holddown arm connected to said first shaft for rotationtherewith,

said first arm being connected to one end of one of said covers andincluding clamping means engaging said cover,

a second holddown arm at the opposite end of said first cover,

said second arms being connected for rotation with said second shaft, I

said second arms including horizontally spaced second clamping meansengaging said adjacent ends of said covers,

means locking said arms to said roof to clamp said covers in closedposition,

said arms being swingable upwardly from said locked position to rotatesaid shafts whereby said covers are moved laterally relative to saidopening and thereby move said inwardly projecting portions outwardlyfrom said ledges and said covers may be hingedly moved to an openposition.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said holddown arms beingsequentially movable whereby said opposite ends of said cover are movedlaterally sequentially.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said holddown arms having alost motion connection with said shafts.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 3, said lost motion connectionproviding initial movement of said arms to an upright position prior torotation of said shafts.

5. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said first hinge bracketshaving cam follower means associated with each cam.

6. The invention in accordance: with claim 1, said holddown armsincluding portions overlapping said ends of said cover to seal said endswith respect to said opening.

7. The invention in accordance with claim 6, said portions includingflanges on said clamping means.

8. The invention in accordance with claim 1, said covers and holddownarms being movable approximately to lie flat on said roof in an openposition. l=

1. A railway car including a roof having an elongated hatch openingextending longitudinally, first vertical coaming walls extending aboutsaid opening, a least one of said walls having an outwardly projectingledge overhanging said opening, a pair of hatch covers having endspositioned relatively longitudinally in adjacent relation for coveringsaid opening, said covers including second vertical walls in the closedcovering position being positioned outwardly and extending downwardly inoverlapping relation relative to said first walls, certain of saidsecond vertical walls having inwardly projecting portions adapted tounderlie said ledge, the improvement of a hinge and locking arrangementfor each cover, each comprising: a pair of first hinge bracketsconnected to each cover inwardly from the ends of said cover, a secondpair of hinge brackets supported on said roof, first and second shaftsrotatably supported on said second brackets, an enlarged cylindrical cammember rotatably supported on each said first hinge bracket, said shaftsbeing eccentrically connected respectively to said cam members, a firstholddown arm connected to said first shaft for rotation therewith, saidfirst arm being connected to one end of one of said covers and includingclamping means engaging said cover, a second holddown arm at theopposite end of said first cover, said second arms being connected forrotation with said second shaft, said second arms including horizontallySpaced second clamping means engaging said adjacent ends of said covers,means locking said arms to said roof to clamp said covers in closedposition, said arms being swingable upwardly from said locked positionto rotate said shafts whereby said covers are moved laterally relativeto said opening and thereby move said inwardly projecting portionsoutwardly from said ledges and said covers may be hingedly moved to anopen position.
 2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, saidholddown arms being sequentially movable whereby said opposite ends ofsaid cover are moved laterally sequentially.
 3. The invention inaccordance with claim 1, said holddown arms having a lost motionconnection with said shafts.
 4. The invention in accordance with claim3, said lost motion connection providing initial movement of said armsto an upright position prior to rotation of said shafts.
 5. Theinvention in accordance with claim 1, said first hinge brackets havingcam follower means associated with each cam.
 6. The invention inaccordance with claim 1, said holddown arms including portionsoverlapping said ends of said cover to seal said ends with respect tosaid opening.
 7. The invention in accordance with claim 6, said portionsincluding flanges on said clamping means.
 8. The invention in accordancewith claim 1, said covers and holddown arms being movable approximately180* to lie flat on said roof in an open position.